Seven Months Later...

I've been known to take a blogging hiatus from time to time, but I don't believe they've ever lasted for seven months!  I've missed it.  And since it's a brand spankin' new year and time to make changes, I've decided blogging is a part of my life I want to bring back.

I love fresh starts and clean slates.  I know there's nothing in particular that's special about January first, and many of you believe it's ridiculous to wait until today to re-establish life goals and expectations.  But, I respectfully disagree.  For me, there's just something about a whole new year that brings a new realm of motivation and dedication.  Come 12:01 am, I'm ready to make some changes.  And while I'm at it, I figure there's no better place than my blog to make public my goals for the coming year.  Heaven knows I need accountability, so here goes.

2015 Resolutions (in no particular order):

1.  Spend more time with my grandmothers and invest more of myself and my time in their lives, at least by calling and checking on them more often, sending them cards, etc. Life is too short, and I can't continue to believe that I'll have forever with them on earth.

2.  Become (at least more of) a positive person.  I admit I struggle here.  I need to control my tongue and not contribute to conversations that aren't healthy or beneficial.  I need to be more positive about myself and my worth...remembering to incorporate positive self-talk into my life and not consciously speak negatively about myself or my life in general.

3.  Control my emotions.  I HAVE to get a grip on my worry once and for all.  Whether that is by seeing a therapist, reading self-help books, seeking advice from a spiritual mentor...whatever it takes.  I'm beyond tired of being enslaved by irrational thoughts and fears.  I want to believe that the course of my life thus far doesn't dictate the course of my life in the future.  Good can come to me, and all things will not be bad.  Satan whispers that to me constantly....that I should fear the future.  I'm ready to fight him on it.  I solicit your prayer on this one, especially.

4.  Live intentionally.  I need to know why I do what I do and why I don't do what I don't do.  I feel like too often, I wander aimlessly through life.  I let life control me and I just deal with whatever comes my way.  I want to take more control of my life (not before God, of course) and stop just surviving and start living.  Even as I type this I'm thinking, "Is this even realistic to me?  Can I truly accomplish this hefty goal?"  But I think it's HUGE!  It's so important to me.  I honestly don't even know where to begin, but I know for sure it's something I want to work on through the new year.

5.  Continue to implement a life change in my diet and healthy eating.  I'm not a spring chicken anymore.  It's not just about my appearance.  It's way past time to take my health seriously and be proactive in being my best self.  I plan to do this by doing away with most processed food and sugar.  I'm sticking with whole grains, natural sugars, and organic food.  And maybe a splurge meal once a week.  ;)

6.  Deny myself and follow God.  I have to give Him more of me and more of my undivided attention via quiet time and searching the scripture.

I could go on and on.  But as much as I want to,  I realize I can't be as perfect as Jesus.  So, I'll stop here.  I just want to do what I can to make 2015 the best year of my life.  I want to believe that GOOD things are in store.  I want to smile more and laugh until I can't breathe. (...like I did last night playing Balderdash.  If you need a laugh, that'll do it.)  So here's to another chance.  Praise God for giving it to me!  Happy New Year, everyone!

It's Summertime!

In Other News...and a Great Recipe (Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad)

Man, that giveaway in my last post went over like a ton of bricks, huh?  Holly, I owe you.  Thanks for your comment.  I planned to send you the valentine happy anyway, but to be honest, I have no idea what I've done with what I bought.  So, shout out to you for winning....nothing.  ;)  Ha!  Seriously, appreciated you commenting.

What do y'all think about that ole Juan Pablo?  Ay yi yi!  He's a jerk face, huh?  Is Nikki out of her mind for staying with him?  Reality Steve said he was only in it for the fame and fortune, and I happen to agree.  ABC lost a perfectly good season with him.  I'm working on being excited about Andi, but I'm not there yet.  But let's face it, Kermit the Frog could be the Bachelor and I'd watch.

I'm so excited about the warmer weather!  Although, the only thing on my mind is....snake season.  I avoided any sightings last year, so pray this year will be the same.

I tried a new recipe this week that I love.  It's simple and the best part is, there's only about 250 calories per serving, which is 2.5 cups.  It's called Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad.

Ingredients:

Dressing:
     1/3 cup chopped, fresh cilantro
     2/3 cup light sour cream
     1 tbsp. minced chipotle chile, in adobo sauce (in section with mexican foods)
     1 tsp. ground cumin
     1 tsp. chili powder
     4 tsp. lime juice
     1/4 tsp. salt

Salad:
     4 cups shredded lettuce
     2 cups boneless, skinless chicken breasts
     1 cup cherry tomatoes (halved)
     1/2 cup diced, peeled avocado
     1/3 thinly sliced red onion
     1 can black beans, rinsed and drained (You KNOW I left these out.)
     1 can whole kernel corn, drained


To prepare dressing, mix all ingredients well.  Pour over salad and enjoy.

My First Giveaway!

Every now and then I get inspired to completely change the look of my blog.  In doing so, I feel inspired to blog more….to share more recipes, funny stories, pictures of my life and the amazing people in it, great deals I've found shopping, my favorite things, or how God has shown Himself to me.  I LOVE reading your blogs (now, get busy writing) and I LOVE discovering new blogs that challenge me to be a better writer.

So in order to add to my blog list, I want to hear from you.  What are YOUR favorite blogs to read?  They could be written by someone you know or someone you've never met.  Which ones inspire you?  Which ones entertain you?  A new favorite of mine is www.mrspotter.com.  For my fellow Parenthood gurus, it's Christina Braverman!  She crafts and cooks and writes about it!  It's super neat to get a glimpse into her real life.  I am also a new fan of www.skinnytaste.com.  There are lots of low-calorie recipes that actually sound good!  I'm excited to try some of them very soon.  (I'll let you know what I think!)  So, this is what I want to hear from you.  Post a comment and share your favorites with me.  I will randomly choose a winner on Friday.  The winner receive an all expense paid trip early little Valentine's Day "happy"….because something happy needs to happen in my life on that dreaded holiday.  :)

P.S.  If you blog and are not on my blog list, please comment with your blog address.  I lost my entire list a couple months ago and still haven't gotten it all back together yet.

Comment away!

My Little Prince

You are all familiar by now with my little princess, ST.  Well, I am delayed in welcoming to the world my little prince, Thomas Finley.  He has totally captured my heart just as his sister has.  He's the calmest, most laid back, cuddliest, and most precious little human ever.  I'm just completely in love.  Here are a few pictures of my latest love and the story of his birth.

Cort and Trey arrived at the hospital at 6:00 am the morning of November 5 to be induced.  Mom and I had Sarah Taylor, so the plan was to keep in touch with them, see how quickly she was progressing, and plan our time of arrival accordingly.  We wanted to be there in plenty of time for the birth, but didn't want to have too much spare time on our hands because we knew a certain two-almost-three year old would get bored really quickly.  The first word we got from Trey was that they were in the room and had tried unsuccessfully to break her water due to her cervix not having thinned out enough (sorry if that's TMI for some of you). They tried again, still without luck.  The next time, the doctor noticed it looked as if Finn might have flipped and wasn't in position to be delivered.  She ordered an ultrasound machine "stat" to check.  As it turns out, she was right.  Within about 20 or 30 minutes, Trey came to get ST to visit Cort before she was whisked away and taken downstairs to be prepped for a C-section.  No one else got to see her before the surgery.  We were all worried how she was handling the news, if she was scared, etc.  Not getting to see her before the baby came was hard.  I just worried about her and wanted to see for myself if she was okay.  It all happened so fast!  I knew that C-sections were extremely common, but because it happened so very fast, I was just worried there was something someone wasn't telling us.

We waited and waited for word that our sweet baby was here.  I was pacing the hallway and watching the door for Trey.  I stopped a nurse and asked if someone would come and notify us when Finn was born, but she said no.  We were informed it was illegal and the only person allowed to give us any news at all was Trey. Well let's face it, men and their communication......???? Add that to a daddy who was understandably not a fan of being on his phone after the birth of his baby and you have basically no information.  Finally, we got a text that said, "here and good."  I felt better and was relieved things went well.  But then, it seemed like forever that we heard anything else.  My mind was wandering.... has something happened with Finn?  Has something happened to Cort?  Were there complications since he told us things were good?  You name it, I thought it.  After what seemed like forever, we receive a text saying we could come and meet our sweet baby.  News couldn't have come soon enough.  From the moment I saw him, I was in love immediately. He's perfect and precious, and I'm completely obsessed with him just as I am his sister.  Cort did well through the surgery.  She was very nauseous the remainder of the day and didn't feel well at all.  We held Finn and visited a while, then left with ST so everyone could try and get some rest.

The second day was great.  Cort felt much better, Finn was showing sure signs of being a CALM baby (if you remember ST, you know why this is such a big deal), and I felt much better.  I could finally breathe knowing both mommy and baby were well.  We went to visit, stayed a few hours, left and let ST nap, got up the next day, and did it again.

The third day wasn't so great.  Cort developed a headache and when texting me to explain, she said "They think it could be a spinal headache.  If it doesn't go away, they will resort to using other measures to help." Excuse me?  You don't tell this chronic worrier that and then allow your phone to die!!!  What in the world is a spinal headache anyway?  Other measures? What does that mean?  Is she okay??  It was nuts, but that's what happened.  I was left in limbo until she had a second to charge her phone and get back to me.  Apparently, she developed a headache from the spinal anesthesia they gave her during the C-section.  They asked her to drink lots of caffeine to see if it would go away.  It got better, but continued to return upon any sort of movement.  On the morning of November 8 (Friday), they had to do a blood patch to repair the spinal headache.  They took blood from her arm and placed it in her back at exactly the spot she had the spinal the first time.  She slept for an hour after, sit up little by little, and it was gone.  In the midst of diagnosing and treating the headache, Finn seemed to have developed a little bit of jaundice.  Cort was told she had no choice but to begin supplementing with formula until his bilirubin levels went down.  Thankfully, they were both dismissed later on Friday.  Sweet little Finn is still fighting a little bit of jaundice, but is perfect in every way.  They go back Thursday to check his levels again, so please pray they will be lower and no further treatment will be needed.  Cort is tired, but great.  We are super super thankful for a healthy baby that is as laid back as you've ever seen.  I certainly prayed he would be!

Looking back, I most definitely over-reacted and worried for nothing.  But in the moment, I was so concerned for the well-being of people I love so very much.  PRAISE GOD that he answered our prayers and we have a perfect baby and healthy mommy at home now.  He turns three months old tomorrow, and he is just the greatest little blessing!

The Best Mexican Cornbread Ever!

Warning: NOT low-calorie.  But delicious.

Ingredients:
3 cups self rising cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cup milk
1 can cream corn
3 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 bell pepper
1 onion

Saute' bell pepper and onion until soft.  Mix with all other ingredients and bake at 400 for 40-45 minutes.

Seven Can Soup

Forgive all the recipe posts, but I have a tendency to lose where I've written these down.  I'm hoping to record them on my blog and then print them and make a cookbook!

This recipe is EASY and SOOOO delicious!  However, I'm not sure why it's called "Seven Can Soup" when there are clearly eight cans involved.  Oh well...

Seven Can Soup
2 cans Chili (one with beans, one without….You know I use both without!)
2 cans Campbell's Chunky Vegetable Soup
1 can whole kernel corn
1 can Rotel
1 can tomato soup
1 can diced tomatoes

Mix and heat until warmed through.  Serve with my Mexican Cornbread recipe coming soon!